News and Past Events

Louise Hendes from Ferndown Leisure Centre ran her first 10 miler in the Bupa Great South Run for the JTYAF. Lou trained hard and it certainly paid off as she completed 10 miles in an amazing 1 hour 33 minutes. Louise has already reached her £100 fundraising target, but if you would like to add your support please visit her Justgiving page at http://original.justgiving.com/louisehendes1

Well done Lou and a very big thank you from all the trustees at the JTYAF.

Comedy, singing and dancing - and sometimes the singing and dancing are comedy too - that was the format for the Soiree's Charity Night at the Hub in Verwood on Thursday 22nd October.

The Soireé was a sell out! With laughs guaranteed from start to finish, the audience couldn't fail to be thoroughly entertained by this amazing slightly risqué cabaret-style revue show. The show is performed by a small regular group of between 10 and 12 performers who also write and direct it themselves.

It has been very popular for 50 years and tickets are always in great demand. Over the years the show has raised an extraordinary amount of money for all sorts of charities and the Soiree team decided this year to support JTYAF for their own charity evening. The JTYAF would like to thank everyone involved for their generosity and kindness, with special thanks to Charlotte Hockey who nominated the JTYAF.

Liam Barrett ran his first marathon for the JTYAF in Abingdon on 18th October. He set himself the challenge leaving only 10 weeks to train! Even though Liam picked up an injury it didn't stop him and he completed the grueling 26.2 miles in an amazing 4 hours 10 minutes. Cheerfulness in the face of adversity is one of the JTYAF core values and Liam certainly showed that! Congratulations and a very big thank you from all the trustees at the JTYAF.

Alex Pearson, Dave Symonds, Matthew Worledge and Stewart Bradshaw have now returned from their expedition to Mount Everest. The team all knew John and as ex-members of the organisations the Foundation supports they believe strongly in and wanted to contribute to the JTYAF achieving its goals.

This was a high altitude, tough expedition involving 15 days of trekking on foot through the Himalayas staying in basic mountain huts. Their aim was to reach Mount Everest Base camp, and to climax with the ascent of Kala Pattarto (5545m) which overlooks the camp, on day 12 of the expedition. They climbed through the Gokyo Valley, across glacial lakes and navigated the Cho La Pass while ascending through smaller peaks on their tight schedule before reaching the route to Base Camp used by the great climbing parties. They reached Everest Base Camp on schedule on Tuesday 20th. It was an amazing day for them all. Of all the places in the world, they shared their time there with a group of Royal Marines, two of
whom recognised them from their T-shirts as they had served alongside John in C Coy 40 Cdo.

Picture: Stew Bradshaw,Matt Worledge,David Symonds,Alex Pearson.

If you would like to sponsor the guys donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the JTYAF and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it's the most efficient way to donate.

The JustGiving pages for Matt, Alex, Stew and Dave:-

http://www.justgiving.com/Matt-Worledge/
http://www.justgiving.com/Alex-Pearson/
http://www.justgiving.com/Dave-Symonds/
http://www.justgiving.com/Stew-Bradshaw/

James Evans, Tom Newman, Adie Condron and Sasha Palmer from Ferndown Leisure Centre did their Tandem Skydives on Saturday 26th September in aid of the JTYAF. They raised over £100 in sponsorship mainly from the customers at the Leisure Centre. A massive thank you to you all for your support and well done in having the courage to go through with it!

What a day! Saturday 22nd August marked the first anniversary of the founding of the JTYAF and our first corporate hospitality event. The magnificent location, on the beach and at the centre point of the flying display proved a hit with our guests who filled the marquee.

The day began with a short introduction to the JTYAF by John Fay and Tony Hambleton and they set the scene for a relaxed and enjoyable experience. Adam Clark and Matt Drew, two of our scholars presented an overview of their achievements and Matt Snook represented the Scholars from the Junior Leaders, Josh Williamson, Matt Ireland and Matt Smith who were still in Tanzania on their Leadership Development Expedition.

During the day a silent auction was held for six magnificent prizes that had been donated by supporters and friends of the Foundation. Thanks must go to all those who donated auction and raffle prizes and also to the winning bidders for their generosity and kindness.


To the delight of our guests, the Red Arrows pilots and their team joined us in the marquee.
We were extremely grateful to them all for taking the time, in what must be an exhausting schedule, to show their support for the Foundation.

Picture: Scholars Adam Clark (back row 2nd from the left) and Matt Drew (back row 2nd from the right) with Linda and Pete Thornton with the Red Arrows Team

A big thank you must also go to the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team who ‘dropped in’ and showed their support. Our guests were able to mingle and chat, get autographs and have photos taken with the best of the best and this really did make the day one to remember.

Picture: The RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team who 'dropped in' to show their support.

The flying display was absolutely breath taking and with the glorious sunshine, things couldn’t really have got any better! The JTYAF would like to thank everybody involved in the organisation of the BAF 2009 hospitality event for their time and enthusiasm, especially Maurice Patterson, who was the main driving force behind what was an exceptional day. As a family we were extremely touched by the support we received and would like to pass on our thanks and appreciation to everyone involved. The day was a massive success, great fun for everyone and we raised a fantastic £8300 for the JTYAF.

Next year why not join us? Saturday 21st August 2010. Send your details to enquiries@jtyaf.org

The Safer Neighbourhood Team for Three Legged Cross, PC Lucy Hughes & PCSO Louise Hamilton, based at Verwood Police Station held their second Three Legged Cross Fun Day at the recreation ground on August 15th. The event started at 11am and ran through until 3pm. It was a brilliant day and encouraged people from the community to have some fun and meet others. A fantastic £230 was raised which this year they have kindly donated to Jenna's Dream and the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation. Many thanks for your support.

Chris Morgan had a crazy plan to tour the football clubs of London pushing a wheelbarrow and his plan became a reality when he set off from Twickenham rugby ground at 8.00am on Monday August 3rd. With a wheelbarrow donated by Warings, Chris covered over 100 miles visiting 13 football league clubs. He started with Brentford then QPR followed by Fulham, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Milwall, Charlton, West Ham, Orient, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Barnet. He finished after six days, walking the final steps up Wembley Way as crowds flocked to the Charity Shield final between Chelsea and Manchester United. Chris got his wheelbarrow filled up with money as he walked through the streets of London and has already collected over £2000. On his travels he was presented with an assortment of football memorabilia from the clubs he visited and aims to auction these to add to the total. He had his photo taken with Harry Rednap and Terry Venables and became a bit of a celebrity on BBC Radio London. Chris aims to donate two thirds of his fund raising total to the JTYAF and a third to Help for Heroes.

Well done Chris! Many thanks from the JTYAF.

Richard Griffin of Bournemouth Helicopters and Rob Ward of 130 Bournemouth Squadron ATC organised a 'Charity Plane Pull' on Saturday 25th July. Teams attempted to pull a Boeing 737 weighing 30,000 Kg a distance of 50 metres in the fastest time along the runway. The plane pull took place at Bournemouth Airport and attracted literally hundreds of people. This truly exceptional sponsored event supported both the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation and The Motor Neurone Disease Association and will hopefully become an annual event.

Teams included Castle Cover, LV, Springfield Leisure Centre, Bournemouth Air Cadets and the MacMillan Unit at Christchurch Hospital. The winning team Castle Cover, pulled the Boeing 737 fifty metres in an incredible 25.9 seconds!

This event 'pulled in' an amazing £2035 for the JTYAF. Many thanks to all involved.

Ferndown Fire Station kindly invited the JTYAF to take part in their Fun Day on Saturday 25th July. Our new display boards promoting the Foundation and giving details of our scholarship and bursary awards attracted a lot of interest. This event certainly helped to raise the awareness of the Foundation locally and we would like to thank the Ferndown Fire Service for their encouragement and support. We look forward to working with them on future fund raising events.

Lisa Roberts, Maria Tompkin, Matt Roberts and Lorna Tompkin left Yarmouth at 10.30am on 18th July heading toward Cowes, with the aim of cycling the coastal route of the Isle of Wight, a grueling 68.7 miles.

They had only covered about 8 miles when they had their first puncture and managed another 5 miles before they had a second but fortunately they didn't have a third! They began to think that they wouldn't complete the challenge when they arrived at Shanklin and it dawned on them just how far they still had to go. Their concern was that they wouldn't make it back to Yarmouth before nightfall.

Heading into Ventnor was very steep but thoughts of raising money for the JTYAF kept them going and upon arriving they realised that there was only a further 28 miles to go. They topped up their drinks bottles and cracked on, eventually arriving in Yarmouth 5 hours 33 minutes after leaving earlier in the day.

In completing this challenge, their brilliant team achievement raised a fantastic £747.45 for the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation. Pete Thornton, who works with Lisa and Maria, commented: 'this was an outstanding effort and we really appreciate their support. This fundraising will make a big contribution to the continued success of the Foundation and will help us to ensure that we can continue to support young people in the pursuit of their ambitions.'

If you would like to sponsor Lisa, Maria, Matt and Lorna, donating through Just giving is quick, easy and totally secure. Visit www.justgiving.com/ljroberts

The Junior Leaders organised a Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge which took place over the weekend of Friday 3rd July to Sun 5th July 2009.

A sponsored walk on behalf of the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation which covered three of the Yorkshire Dales most demanding peaks, Pen-y-Ghent (694m), Whernside (736m) and Ingleborough (723m) and raised a fantastic £1450.

The Junior Leaders had 9 participating teams: The event was open to Qualified Junior Leaders and Air Cadets alike, as well as ACO Staff.

Picture: 130 (Bournemouth) Squadron on the move

Many thanks to Karen Towner and her husband John, who were kind enough to organise an excellent Quiz Night at the Verwood Guide Hall, on Saturday 27th June.

Every seat was taken and between the question rounds contestants took part in 'Play your Cards Right' which was a rousing success. Many prizes had been donated by local businesses and the Verwood Guides had kindly contributed to a bottle draw. Karen raised a fantastic £328 and provided a really entertaining evening for everyone.

Karen has now raised a total of £728 for the JTYAF and we are extremely grateful to her for her support.
 

On Friday 5th June, Rob and James cycled from Cambridge to Bournemouth a total of 160 miles and completed the ride in less than 16 hours.

This was a massive challenge which required enormous physical strength, and plenty of determination and courage. Rob and James showed all these qualities in abundance and raised a fantastic £786. Well done guys!

Picture: Rob and James still smiling after 16 hours in the saddle!

THEY DID IT!
At 6.12am on Friday 29th May, Linda and Pete Thornton with a combined age of 113 years reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

This followed a demanding 5 day ascent of the 5895m high mountain and culminated at the summit, not with the expected, beautiful sunrise over Africa, but a snow blizzard! Pete and Linda agreed that the climb was the most difficult challenge they had ever faced, both physically and mentally and therefore valued their success as a very significant personal achievement.

They have already raised £3,444.12 and there is still sponsor money coming in.

Picture: Linda and Pete reach the somewhat snow-stormy peak.
 

Kate and Luke organised a brilliant Family Fun Day at the local Marston's Inn, the Puredrop in Ferndown, on Saturday 23rd May. They were lucky enough to have chosen one of the best days of the year and the weather was glorious.

The fun day kicked off at 12 noon with lots of entertainment for the whole family and plenty to keep the children amused. There was a Bouncy Castle...Giant Sumo Wrestling...Competitions and Raffles...Face Painting...Beat the Goalie...and Fire Officers from the local Ferndown Fire Station put in an appearance with an engine and Fireman Sam.

Luke started at 5.00am to make sure his Hog Roast was cooked to perfection and ready for the hungry customers.

The event was extremely well supported and a total of £386.40 was raised, which is a fantastic contribution to the Foundation's continued success. The JTYAF are extremely grateful to Kate, Luke and their team for all their time and efforts, which ensured that the day was such an enjoyable event for everyone.
 

On Saturday 16th May the JTYAF was fortunate to be joint beneficiary, together with the Royal Signals Museum, of the 10th Anniversary Charity Fundraising Concert at the Lighthouse Theatre.

Featuring the Massed Bands and Pipes and Drums of the Royal Corps of Signals, in concert with young musicians from the Dorset Music Service, the large audience was entertained with a wonderful program of music. The variety of compositions performed from Amazing Grace to the Dambusters, meant that there was something for everyone and the concert concluded with Pomp and Circumstance and Sunset.

Special guests including Brigadier E M Flint ADC - SOinC(A), Major General Garry Robison, Commandant General Royal Marines and local dignitaries all gave their support.

The JTYAF would like to give special thanks to Mr Adam Forty, the concert organizer for all his hard work and are very grateful for the amazing £1000 donation received from this event.

Josh Williamson was lucky enough to secure a place in the London Marathon on 26th April. He trained hard and managed to complete the gruelling 26.2 miles, a fantastic personal achievement.

Josh raised an amazing £632. We are very grateful to Josh for his continued support as he has already helped to raise over £1,500 for the Foundation, when he completed a climb to the Everest Base Camp last year. Many thanks Josh.
 

Many thanks are due to Maureen Quinn, who held a Bridge afternoon for her friends in aid of the JTYAF on 3rd April. This raised a grand total of £230 for which we are really grateful.
 

At last, after 3 previous failed attempts, the weather held on 15th March for 11 brave individuals to make tandem skydives from 13,000 feet above the Wiltshire countryside for the JTYAF. In JT's memory, well over £5,000 was raised, which is an amazing achievement.

Thanks are due to those who summoned the courage to throw themselves out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft: Kirsty Smith, Rachel Denyer, Claire Rawlinson, Lauren Picken, Graham Thornton, Mark Jackson, Ed Rogers, Andrew Caruana, Phil Hodgetts and Davy Sweeney (who also organised the jump itself). Laura Perry, Gill Barret and Scott Williamson also managed to jump in a separate attempt and our appreciation is extended to them for their bravery and support.

Thanks also to Vicky Portnell and Emma Turnbull who had previously both made solo static line jumps from 3,000 feet in John's memory, and whose fundraising contribution to the current total was much appreciated.
 

Thank you to everyone at Ferndown Upper School, who recently held a mufti day and a special screening of the film 'Mama Mia' for John's Foundation.

The JTYAF received a cheque for over £600, for which the youngsters of Ferndown should be rightly proud.
 

Pardon the the Bond-style title but, there again, that's what the 25th April was all about. Bond, James Bond.

The Ferndown Branch of the Royal British Legion hosted a Special Charity Night in aid of the JTYAF and the 'Help for Heroes' charity. Our sincere thanks to Pat and Tony Birch and all their team for arranging such a brilliant event and nominating JT's charity.

The poster to the right gives you an idea of what the evening involved. Guests enjoyed a superb three-course dinner with entertainment by Matt Black the very popular piano and comedy cabaret act and also a father and daughter vocal duo.

With a James Bond theme, there were prizes for the best fancy dress and a grand draw. A massive £1366.74 was raised for the JTYAF. It was a fantastic night. The food was delicious, the entertainment was superb and everyone had a thoroughly good evening.

Many thanks to all involved for their generosity and support but especially to Pat and Tony as they worked extremely hard to ensure the evening was a success.

The Mayor of Ferndown, Lesley Dedman, is amongst 17 brave individuals who have agreed to skydive to fundraise for the JTYAF.

On the 8th February, Cllr Dedman will make the sponsored tandem skydive with the Army Parachute Association from Netheravon airfield in Wiltshire, with all the sponsorship raised going to JT's Foundation.

The JTYAF is one of the charities that the mayor has adopted for 2008/09 and we are very grateful to her for these daredevil antics; just the sort of have-a-go heroics that epitomised JT's life.

Although she suffers from vertigo, Lesley admits that she never dreamt that one day she would agree to leap from a plane at 13,000 feet.

"I don't mind flying but agree with the old saying by pilots that you should have as many landings as take-offs. I hope my landing will be a soft one! I'm trying to think more about raising as much money for the JTYAF than about the actual jump.

With the support of my contacts, local business, family and friends I hope to raise a significant amount."

Please support Lesley in this worthwhile event by donating via her Just Giving page at  www.justgiving.com/lesleydedman or in collection tins at the reception desk within the Haskins Garden Centre at Longham.

For more information on donating to the charity generally, please visit www.justgiving.com/jtyaf

Falklands hero Simon Weston OBE took time out to visit JT's family prior to the quarterly Trustees meeting.

Together, with some of the Trustees and Ambassadors, Simon visited JT's grave in Ferndown to pay his respects.

Simon agreed to become patron of the Foundation in November, and is already actively engaging himself in the role.

Following the grave visit, the group then drove on to Ferndown ATC HQ, where Simon was introduced to the Board of Trustees and presented a memorial plaque to John's parents.  The plaque has been arranged by Sqn Ldr Vanessa Toth, OC of Ferndown ATC Squadron, and will be proudly displayed under a portrait of John Thornton in the reception area.

Picture:
Simon (second on left) together with some of the Ambassadors of JT's charity, and John Fay MBE (right), Organisation Development for the Foundation.
Tony Hambleton (second from right) joins the charity as an Ambassador for the Royal Air Force, and Richard Millman (far left) takes on the Ambassador role for the North of England.

Derith and John Rolfe, together with Lorna and Ray Perry, organised a Rock Concert with the band Mission Impossible at the Royal British Legion in Ferndown.

The evening was a brilliant success with £500 made on the raffle and a signed John Terry England shirt raising an additional £200. In total, the JTYAF will benefit from a total of £1,500.

Many thanks to the Rolfe and Perry families who worked extremely hard to make the evening a real boost for the JTYAF.

During the week commencing 24th November, Amber O'Dea and her colleagues from Liverpool Victoria spent a week fundraising for the Charity.

Activities included a Tuck Shop, Quiz, Cake sale grand draw and a mufti day.

The winning tickets for the grand draw were picked by Pete Thornton and he was able to thank personally all involved and to receive a cheque for a magnificent £1,028.35.

Liverpool Victoria will be adding another £500 to this, showing their support for local charities.

You can read more about Liverpool Victoria at their corporate website www.lv.com

Thank you to Karen Portnell, who raised nearly £400 for the JTYAF by successfully walking 26.2 miles as part of the Beachy Head Marathon, Eastbourne, on 25th October.

Thanks Karen, and a big well done from all at the JTYAF.

Thank you to Yvonne Rogers for organising a 5-a-side football tournament at Ferndown Leisure Centre on Sunday 19th October.

The event raised £150 for the JTYAF and BIG, BIG 'Thank You' must go to Ed Rogers who sponsored the cost of the hall.

We mustn't forget the players, as without them it wouldn't have been possible. Thanks guys.

On 6th October, three of John's friends from Ferndown; Ashley Ruane (Ferndown Air Cadet Civilian Instructor, Qualified Junior Leader and ex-Ferndown Upper School pupil), Josh Williamson (Ferndown Air Cadet Flight Sergeant and Qualified Junior Leader) and Heather Cox (ex-Ferndown Air Cadet Sergeant) began their three week trip to trek in Nepal aiming to raise over £1,500 for JTYAF.

They sent the following report for our News page:

"The aim of the trip was to climb together to Everest Base Camp (EBC). Going to Nepal to climb to EBC was the chance of a lifetime. Trekking commenced on 10th October from Lukla, we were excited and apprehensive as we landed on a tiny runway facing into the mountain face.

Trekking through the Khumbu Valley to Base Camp was incredible and the scenery was second to none. We met some of the kindest, most genuine people and always felt welcomed by the Nepalese people. The ascent took seven days; five days covering the distance with two days on steep acclimatisation walks. The trip threw many difficult challenges at us, from altitude sickness to food poisoning, but good humour, the motivation to raise money for JT's charity and John's memory inspired us to continue.

We stood together on the 'Roof of the world' at Everest Base Camp, twenty two and a half thousand feet above sea level. Looking down at the Himalayan Mountains in the Khumbu Valley we had climbed as high as we could dream, it felt amazing as we began to descend and realise what we had managed to achieve together."

A very big well done on a trip that was truly in the spirit of what JT stood for, and thank you for the tremendous amount raised from such an adventure.

No, nothing to do with rugby singing, but a different type of music raised thousands for the JTYAF.

A Swing Band Concert hosted by the Bournemouth Red Arrows Association featuring The Windmill Swing Band and vocalist Jan Press, raised over £2,000 for the JTYAF.

Alina Jenkins, from BBC Radio Solent, introduced the evening and Terry Trevett worked hard to ensure that the event was a big success.

A big thank you to everyone who attended, and an equal well done to all who helped organise this very popular event in JT's home town.

Friday 29th August saw the main kick-off event to launch the John Thornton Young Achievers Foundation as part of the Bournemouth Air Festival.

Hosted by De Havilland Aviation (DHA) of Bournemouth Airport, business leaders and VIPs from around the area, and beyond, attended a superb day to raise money for this very worthwhile cause.

DHA had arranged the Corporate Hospitality Day to celebrate the launch of their newly-restored former Red Arrow jet, G-NATY, but wanted to add on a charity element to help raise awareness and funds to get the new Foundation off to a flying start.

After three years of work to restore Gnaty, as she is known, the guests at this prestigious event were treated to both a solo flying display by former Red Arrow pilot Justin Hughes, followed a unique flypast of the current red Arrows team leading Justin in a tribute to the RAF's 90 birthday and their former lead aircraft. Gnaty was also the plane that was flown at JT's funeral by Lt Cdr Matt Whitfield RN, in tribute to his flight with the Red Arrows when John won the Top Student on the Junior Leader course in 2004.

Attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth, guests enjoyed a first-class lunch after introductions from the Daily Echo editor, Mr Neal Butterworth, and a short reading by Air Commodore Dickie Duckett, the last leader of the Red Arrows who flew Gnaty as his lead aircraft.

The Hospitality Day was organised by one of the Foundation's Trustees, Geoff Beck who is MD of De Havilland Aviation and was attended by John's parents, Peter and Linda, his brother Graham and his sister-in-law Lisa, and his grandparents, together with John and Sarah Fay. John, the Founder of the Junior Leaders is a Trustee of the Foundation and travelled down from Cheshire to attend this special day.

Peter Thornton gave a short talk to the invited guests on the aims and purpose of the new Foundation, and his rallying call didn't go unheeded. Around £5,000 was raised in a short time on auction lots ranging from a specially-commissioned painting of Gnaty with the Red Arrows, to a hosted visit to RAF Scampton, home of the famous team, very kindly donated by the Red Arrows themselves.

Well-known local businesswoman Liz Bath, very kindly donated a new Cartier watch which was put into a 'tenner-in-an-envelope' lottery, and this raised over £1,300 alone.

All in all, a superb day to celebrate two events getting off the ground, and proof that such events can easily raise money for these sort of good causes.

If you are interested in organising, or hosting, an event in aid of the Foundation, please email enquiries@jtyaf.org where the Trustees will be more than pleased to assist you.